Celebrity Recipe: Kirsten Roeters’ Green Stew

Nothing signifies fall more than a great soup. Actress Kirsten Roeters has a delicious recipe for what she calls The Green Stew. It gets its name from all the healthy (and yes, green) ingredients that go into it! “We love this stew because it’s fresh and zesty and has a ton of leafy greens and turmeric. But it’s rich and satisfying at the same time,” says Kirsten. “My son’s best friend is Persian, and his mom told me how to make this green stew — Ghormeh Sabzi — because we were all obsessed with it. It was a verbal recipe, and I’ve kind of ad-libbed it a bit (so it’s probably not authentic, apologies to the purists!). It takes a long time to cook, but once you get it in the pot you just let it simmer forever. Dried limes are the key!!! You could probably toss it in the slow cooker if you wanted to make it in the morning and come home to it. We make a giant pot of it and then freeze it so it’s always ready for us in a pinch. And feel free to make substitutions and let me know how it turns out. Lamb or Bison? Chard or beet greens? Add an extra can of beans? Go crazy!”

Kirsten Roeters’ Green Stew

Ingredients:

2 lbs beef stew meat (grass-fed if you can get it), in 1-inch cubes

1 onion (white, yellow, brown, whatever’s lying around) diced

1 bunch parsley, chopped

1 bunch spinach or kale (stems removed), chopped

1 bunch chives, diced

1 can kidney beans, drained & rinsed

6 dried limes (or use Numi’s Dry Desert Lime Tea)

2T turmeric

2t fenugreek (optional)

oil for cooking (traditionally grapeseed, but I use olive oil)

salt & pepper to taste

4 cups chicken broth or water

Directions:

Heat oil in an extra large frying pa. Season the stew meat with salt & pepper and brown in the pan. Remove and set aside.

If needed, add a little oil to the pan and saute the onion until tender, about 2 minutes. Add turmeric & fenugreek and mix in the hot pan until fragrant, pasty and toasty, about 2 minutes. Slowly stir in chives, parsley, & greens and cook until tender. Add browned meat and stir. Add enough water & broth to cover just cover the mixture. Take the 6 dried limes and crack the rind with either a fork (or with a meat mallet if you think the kids would like that part) and add them to the stew. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Let the whole thing simmer VERY LOW for 2-4 hours, adding water if it gets too dry. The greens will be very dark, almost brown.

To serve, remove the bits of dried lime and add the kidney beans and let it cook for 10-20 minutes to heat up the beans. If there is a lot of water left over, you can heat it up and boil it off, or just stir it in if you like it soupy. Add salt if needed.